Most Tuesday nights, you can find us in the (torturously long) Chick-Fil-A drive-thru line. (Side note: did you know that “tortUous” is a word? It means “windy,” “twisty,” or “complicated/confusing.” I just learned that today).

It’s our favorite family fast food restaurant (pretty much our only one, actually) (say that five times fast, by the way), and Tuesday nights are kids eat free nights (one kids’ meal for every adult meal ordered), which means that we can feed our entire family for $20.

Our tab is usually a bit higher than that, though, because I almost always order an extra sandwich or two to bring home.

Shaun likes his sandwiches best cold for breakfast (such a sweet, handsome weirdo, my husband), but one morning, I got a brilliant idea to make “his” sandwich stretch a bit further so that everybody could enjoy some Chick-Fil-A yumminess for breakfast without a) another trip into town and b) the expense of buying individual sandwiches.

It was such a big hit that it’s fast become our Wednesday morning breakfast routine.

Here’s what I do:

First, I scramble about a dozen eggs in my usual way (a good splash of milk, generous salt and pepper).

Then I chop up the chicken from a Chick-Fil-A sandwich into tiny chunks and toss it into the eggs fresh off the stove (the hot eggs warm the chicken through in no time).

chicken eggs

I’ll serve them to my kids in bowls (everyone except Simon absolutely LOVES them; not sure what his problem is since he like scrambled eggs and Chick-Fil-A chicken separately). But for me and Shaun, I’ll toast the bun from the sandwich + whatever bread we have at home with a little cheddar, and then pile them up with what we have now dubbed, “Chicken Eggs.” (We’re creative geniuses. Next thing you know, we’ll be naming a baby, “Girl,” or, better yet, “Human”).

Paired with a little Chick-Fil-A sauce (and I do mean a little…that stuff is a heart attack in a tiny plastic pouch), the result is two ridiculously delicious breakfast sandwiches + enough eggs to feed the rest of the family (usually with leftovers) for about $6.

Of course, when you just so happened to have gone to Sam’s the day before and, moreover, just so happened to have let your kids talk you into bringing home a giant box of even more giant croissants…

Well, let’s just say that breakfast this morning was especially decadent.

breakfast sandwich

I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes, just something small like an especially yummy, restaurant-style breakfast (and the knowledge that I did it on the cheap) is enough to start my morning off on a really good note and keep it rolling all day long.

What about you guys? Any fun restaurant hacks to share?

Or any other little tip or trick to make Mama-life a little easier (cheaper!) and more manageable?

I’m all ears!

P.S. Don’t forget to tag your tips in social media with #mamalifehacks so I can feature YOU!

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5 Comments

  1. One of my favourite Mama life hacks is definetely making tomato sauce and storing it in glasses (just like jam). So whenever I m in need of a quick meal, we’re having pasta (or rice. ….) with tomato sauce. It’ s so easy to make, especially in my thermomix (and no, I don’t get one cent for saying this, just love it so much).
    Friday nights we have pizza, I make the dough in advance and use the tomato sauce. So that’s an easy dinner, too.

  2. This one’s for “mama life” in general. My kids, like many, gets cases of the “I Wants”. I wanted them to understand that it takes a certain amount of work to earn the money for those items that they want, just as I work to make our life what it is. They needed to learn how to save their money. So I created a Chore Chart. As long as they complete their assigned chores each week, they receive their allowance. If they want to earn extra money, I have written down additional chores on popsicle sticks and put them in a jar. For example, “clean hall bathroom $1.00” or “clean pet door .50”. So far, the system works very well. (I am not a total mom-ster; I do get them treats from time to time, but teaching them the power of saving from a young age is an important lesson.)

  3. I have five kiddos and something we ALL like is taco meat!…… So to stretch it and change things up a bit I brown ground meat and season it like taco meat than add a can of fat free refried beans and some salsa (sometimes home made sometimes store bought) heat it all up together and mix. It makes tacos, nachos, quesadillas etc go farther. This may not be something new to most but thought I’d share.

    1. I do this but I chop up veggies to add while the meat is cooking. Carrots, peppers, and onions are especially good, especially when they are seasoned well you don’t even notice the veggies— plus it makes a pound of beef go a lot farther!

  4. Yes, I think I learned “tortuous” from my homeschool vocabulary workbooks – the same workbooks that taught me the word “obsequious.” Obviously, both words are easily inserted into my colloquial conversations. 🙂 Hahaha! I adore Jane Austen’s use of vocabulary (well, and her fantastic wit, too 🙂 ), although I think I resemble Elizabeth Bennet more in my sarcastic words as opposed to my vocabulary range. 🙂 Also, the Chick-fil-A drive-thru could sometimes be described as tortuous. 🙂

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